The Naumi Hotel, sited behind Raffles Hotel at Seah Street, is a prominent erection alongside the old shophouses. You can't possibly miss it once you hit Seah Street. Its grey/khaki exterior and metal grills that are covered with crawling vines seem reminiscent of some design house's office. You would not have thought it to be a hotel, much less a luxury boutique hotel that is targeted at business travellers.
While I thought the facade felt cold, the lobby inside was warm and more homely. However, I was disappointed with the lobby's layout. Being a boutique hotel with limited space, Naumi shared the lobby area between the reception area and its only dining facility (picture below). It dedicated too much space to the Naumi Restaurant and Bar, causing the guest reception to fall in the shadows.
Being new to the hotel, I mistook the large counters for the front desk. It was in fact the bar counter. The service staff pointed behind me and it was then I realised I had missed the reception, which was actually a large office desk.
For a luxury boutique hotel, it was an unbefitting reception counter. First, how could the front desk staff be sitting? There is a reason why hotel's front desk is often a high counter. It forces service staff to stand and receive arriving guests, which presents a stronger welcome. Second, how can the front desk be so small and discreetly tucked aside?
The saving grace was the polite front desk staff who stood immediately as I approached and greeted me warmly. I was checked in quickly and shown to my room. As I stepped out of the lift onto my floor, my nose picked up a soothing aroma. I found out from the staff that the hotel is wholly fragranced with a mix of ginger, lime and other pleasant smelling stuff. Utterly relaxing!
I was put up in the second most luxurious room tier - the Corporate Suite. And I must say, I LOVE THE ROOM!
It offers a kichenette, a living area with a large plasma TV and a long lounger littered with suede cushions, a spacious work desk, a bedroom and an en-suite spacious bathroom.
Decor is served up with a generous spread of flora motifs against a glass wall, rich textured wallpaper in a soothing earth tone and thick rugs atop fine panelled flooring.
The kitchenette featured a premium coffee-maker and a box of quality coffee capsules. To get my caffeine fix, I only need to pop a capsule of my desired flavour into the tiny machine and technology will do its work. A delightful cuppa is ready under a minute. Hah, and it is as good as what Starbucks would serve up.
There was also a microwave oven, a toaster, an electric kettle, hotplate and wine chiller at my disposal. Minibar contents were offered FOC.
Also good is the provision of free internet connection and local calls. Wii playsets can be rented too! The room phone also comes with a cordless handset, so guests can take the phone up to the pool, gym or yoga room if they need to.
By the way, the gym, yoga room and meeting room are darned small. The gym had only three machines and a rack of weights. But I guess space is a constraint for the hotel and it would be better to put in more suites than such facilities.
After the oohs and ahhs, I turned to the two most important things to me when it comes to hotel rooms - the bed and bathroom. Again, I was knocked off my feet.
The bedroom was absolutely inviting. I leapt on the bed and sank right in - literally. The bed was that soft! The pillows were huge and soft too - thanks to the goose feathers.
After heaving myself out of bed, I hopped into the en-suite bathroom. The glorious white marbled floor blinded me. When I regained my sight, I swooned over the roomy standalone bath. I love standalone baths! The built-into-platform baths are so passe! And there was also a rain shower!
The next thing that stole my heart was the toiletries. They were all Aesop products! Divine!
While I wept over the finery, Joshua popped himself a beer and settled happily into the plush lounger in the living room. His face reflected only happiness.
I had to wrestle the beer out of his hands to get him to take photos with me... and for me. Heh.
The rooms were all non-smoking at this hotel, so we escaped to the pool at the rooftop for a puff. The moment we hit the rooftop, we both gasped. This was the sight that gripped us:
I never knew that Singapore's skyline could be so drawing. The hotel stood at only ten storeys high, so the skyscrapers appeared as if they were an enormous portrait laid out in front of me. While Equinox or the Singapore Flyer may claim to offer a paranomic view of Singapore, the iconic skyscrapers are all like ants. The Naumi however offers a more intimate view of Singapore. Ahh, I love!
The infinity pool made the view more breath-taking. It was as if the pool flowed right out of the building and into the portrait of the city.
Later on, Angie got off work and came by to join us in marvelling at the beauty of the Naumi. We indulged further in photo-whoring. Joshua played the gracious photog.
Swooning over the exquisite suite expanded too much of our energy and we had to eat. We called for room service since dining at the small lobby was not quite appealing. We wanted privacy. Dinner consisted of a bowl of cream of mushroom, pizza margherita, chicken tikka, and chicken, mushroom and basil organic linguine. Everything tasted good, except the pizza margherita, which was bland and hard like cardboard.
Frankly, I harboured a very low expectation of the food since there was only a small dining facility that doubled as a whisky bar at night. With that sort of space commitment to f&b, how could the kitchen be dedicated, right?
WRONG.
How could I forget the the owners of Naumi Hotel also owns the famed Rang Mahal at Pan Pacific Hotel Singapore? No wonder dinner was good. Ah, note that I said dinner was "good" and not "excellent"? I've had orgasmic fare, and dinner at Naumi does not qualify. For this reason, I think its menu is overpriced. Also, servings are pretty small for the price tag. For example, chicken tikka costs S$22 and it offers only five pieces of chicken and four small pieces of naans. That would never suffice as a main course!
After polishing off our dinner, we decided to order dessert - tiramisu and panna cotta (S$12 each). We asked for dessert to be served at the poolside so Joshua and I could smoke. The staff happily acceded.
Tiramisu was a delight, but the panna cotta was diabetes-inducing. I surrendered the sweets to Angie after a few bites.
As the poolside is only accessible to hotel residents - a card key is required to access the lifts, we got to enjoy it all to ourselves. Surprisingly, we were the only people chilling there. Perhaps the foreign guests preferred to head out to town to see the sights than to be cooped in the hotel.
For me, I so desire to escape the city crowd and the quiet poolside was my asylum of choice.
The waitress who had earlier served us our dessert urged me to sample their whisky spread. The Naumi Bar attempts to be Singapore's premier whisky bar by offering a mind-boggling 69 different whiskies. Whoot!
I did not know where to start! She recommended a Macallen Scotch 18 Year. Gah, I get a headache from Macallen. Eventually, I chose to stick with a mojito. The mojito was sweet and not at all strong. I like my mojitos done the way of La Luciolla in Bali - slightly sour and full of kick.
Anyway, I can't complain much. Armed with a cool drink, I settled into the stylish and superbly comfy rattan lounger and gazed into the starry skies. The weather that evening was brilliant - the skies were clear and the breeze was nicely chilled. For a moment, I could surrender my mind to careless wondering and toss all the pressures of impending editorial deadlines out of my little head.
If the Naumi Hotel does indeed draw mostly business travellers, then the poolside at dusk should be the official meditating venue. After a long day or week at work, all one really needs is silence... and a stiff drink.
The poolside was such an sanctuary that Joshua, Angie and I lay there till past 11pm, when Junnie arrived. Yes, I invited her to oogle at the hotel's facilities too. Then we headed back to our suite for supper (the mushroom pizza is fantastic!), sparkling wine and more photos.
Joshua helped to pop the bottle while the rest of us huddled far from him. We don't wanna get hit by the flying cork! After the bottle was popped, Joshua said: "OK! Now who wants to smell the cork?" That sounded so wrong and we burst out laughing. Perhaps he did not catch what tickled us, and continued: "What? You can smell the cork when it is wet."
Yep. Smell the wet cork. That's what everyone should do.
And no, we weren't drunk.
The girls finally cleared out past midnight. And despite having supper, I was hungry after my bath and contemplated driving out for more food. I don't know why I was especially ravenous that night! Or perhaps the food servings are indeed too small.
My verdict on the Naumi Hotel? Two words - practical luxury.
I have seen hotels that serves up luxury on a gaudy plate. Such hotels make you feel like you are thrown into a Versace store in the early 90s. The Naumi Hotel, however, choose to offer luxury that is absolutely habitable and usable.
What they can definitely do better? Improve the presence of the front desk at the lobby. Luxury need to be felt right from the start!
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